The New York Post reports that the U.S. Attny. for the East. Dist. of N.Y. is preparing a nationwide civil suit against the Intl. Longshoremen’s Assn. The reported preparations come on the heels of a string of arrests and convictions of ILA bosses from NYC to Miami for racketeering and organized crime influence. The model for such an intervention already exists in the Intl. Bhd. of Teamsters, which is still under court supervision 15 yrs. after settling a similar lawsuit by the then-U.S. Attny. for the Sou. Dist. of NY, Rudolph Giuliani.
The reported attempt by the U.S. Attny. to take over the ILA is reportedly being aided by George Barone, who has admitted acting as an agent of the Genovese crime family with the ILA since the 1960s. His testimony led to the 2003 conviction of Peter Gotti and 7 other members of the Gambino crime family for racketeering in Locals 1 and 1814 in NYC. During that trial, Barone also testified that he and current ILA pres. John Bowers conspired to ensure that the Genoveses would “have our man as president.”
If the ILA action is based on the Teamster lawsuit, then the longshore union would come under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Ct. for the East. Dist. of NY, which would have complete authority over all offices and positions in the union, incl. the power to remove officers found to be tainted by organized crime. An independent board would have power to conduct any investigations necessary for the fed. judge to exercise his/her authority. [New York Post, 7/16/04]